Ravens very familiar with Steelers tight end Heath Miller

Mike Wallace is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ deep threat and Antonio Brown is the jack of all trades, but eight-year veteran Heath Miller warrants a fair amount of attention from the Ravens defense.

The tight end leads Pittsburgh in receptions with 43 and ranks third in yards with 431. His six touchdown catches are tied with Wallace for the team lead and are one shy of his career best of seven set in 2007.

“Heath Miller, he’s a crafty veteran,” inside linebacker Jameel McClain said. “He understands how to get open in his routes, he understands the weaknesses in certain coverages, and obviously, he’s an aggressive blocker. He does a lot of things good, and that’s what time in this league does.”

Added inside linebacker Dannell Ellerbe: “He’s just a competitor, and he’s just going to get after you. He’s a good guy. He catches the ball, blocks kind of well. Should be interesting.”

The Ravens have done a good job of limiting Miller. He has reached the end zone just once in his last 11 meetings with the Ravens and has not had more than 40 yards in eight of those games.

Miller has caught eight passes for 95 yards in his last two games this season, but he amassed 35 receptions for 336 yards and six touchdowns in his first seven games. The Ravens would prefer not to see Miller recapture his earlier success on Sunday night.

"The guy is a go-to-type guy," defensive coordinator Dean Pees said. "He's still a real good blocking tight end. He's very effective in the pass routes – catches the ball. He has one catch on film that we still don't know how he caught it – against, I can't even remember who it was against now – but it was a heck of a play. The guy is still a very, very talented tight end. [He is] still one of the best in the league."

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